SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) – A major local transportation company will soon be operating out of Union Station. Peter Pan Bus Lines announced an agreement to partner with Union Station on Tuesday morning.

The Springfield-based bus carrier, owned by the Picknelly family, has been operating out of their bus station at 1776 Main Street for decades.

Greyhound Bus, which also has operated out of the Springfield bus terminal, is also partnering with Union Station.

Having inter-city bus service running out of Union Station will bring passengers yet another type of service at the soon-to-be-opened transportation center. Amtrak train service and PVTA buses will also run out of Union Station, with commuter rail connecting Springfield to Hartford and New Haven to be available in the coming years.

Congressman Richard Neal (D-Springfield) has been advocating for the Union Station project ever since he was mayor of the city in the 1980s. Neal said that he knows that negotiations between Peter Pan and Union Station had been bogged-down at times, but it is not an easy process, and he is thrilled that they are going to be operating out of Union Station.

Neal says that he hopes Peter Pan will eventually move their corporate offices to Union Station. Dietz and Company Architects is leasing 8,200 square feet of office space at the station. There is a total of 62,000 square feet available.

A representative for Peter Pan said Tuesday that they have been working with planners on Union Station for decades, and noted that some 30 years ago, the chairman of the bus line had predicted that they would be moving into a revamped Union Station “soon.”

“Soon” will finally come next month, when Union Station opens to the public.